Plan pitched for hotel, homes in downtown San Juan

The proposed design for the Urban Village hotel in San Juan Capistrano. URBAN VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT

City officials are now considering an official proposal to build a hotel and townhomes on movie producer Steve Oedekerk’s property in downtown San Juan Capistrano.

Joshua Host, principal of Urban Village Development, submitted on June 28 an application that calls for 33 townhomes, a three-story 136-room hotel, and about 4,500 square feet of retail and restaurant space to be built on 3.17 acres on Camino Capistrano, where Oedekerk’s Plaza Del O office building currently sits.

Host paid the $15,000 application fee Monday, which initiates the review process. That’s in addition to $1,000 paid in February when he submitted a pre-application.

A sales agreement between Urban Village and Oedekerk, whose movies include “Cowboys and Aliens” and the “Ace Ventura” series, calls for the land to transfer to Urban Village at a future date.

The project is at least a few months from being reviewed by the Planning Commission, said Bill Ramsey, the city’s assistant development services director and manager of the project.

Host has applied for architectural control of the land, which is zoned to allow commercial development, as well as a conditional use permit and grading plan modification.

The Planning Commission analyzed the initial plans in May during a workshop aimed at providing Host feedback as he prepared the formal application. Commissioners criticized the original proposal as to much for such a small space.

The revised plan reduced the number of three-bedroom townhomes – which will be sold, not rented – from 38 to 33 and cut the proposed size of the restaurant and retail space from 10,000 square feet by more than half. A restaurant is to now occupy 1,858-square feet of space while retails shops take about 2,664 square feet.

“We reduced our density quite a bit,” Host said. He said eliminating five of the homes was a big decision “because with something like this, all your profit is in the last five houses.” He declined to detail the project’s financial plan but said the profit margin is “tight.”

The hotel and homes will have 190 underground parking spots. The restaurant and shops will have 30.

The proposal involves demolishing Oedekerk’s buildings and moving the fountain in Historic Town Center Park, as well as extending Forster Street from Camino Capistrano to Del Obispo Street. The revised plan includes sidewalks on both sides of Forster.

Now that the project is formally submitted, staff will review the proposal - a meeting is scheduled for July 23 - and detail concerns and suggested revisions in a letter to Host. Then they’ll consider the environmental impacts of the project. Ramsey said the city likely will conduct a smaller study that focuses just on the project and Oedekerk’s property because the city commissioned an environmental impact report that included the property while reworking the city’s Historic Town Center Master Plan, which was approved last year by the City Council.

City staff will then prepare a detailed description of the project to present to the Planning Commission.

"I wouldn’t envision us getting into the Commission process until probably October or November," Ramsey said, adding that the timeline is tentative. "We would always rather undercommit and over-deliver.”

The Planning Commission will hold public hearings and vote on the project, but their vote is only advisory to the City Council, which will hold its own public hearings and ultimately decide the project’s fate.

CivilScapes Engineering of Laguna Niguel and Hannouche & Kang Architects, Inc. of Newport Beach have contracted with Urban Village to design the project.

The proposed design for the Urban Village hotel in San Juan Capistrano. URBAN VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT
These drawings show the proposed Urban Village hotel and apartments in San Juan Capistrano. URBAN VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT
The proposed site plan for the Urban Village hotel and housing development in San Juan Capistrano. URBAN VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT
This conceptual plan shows the proposed Urban Village development in San Juan Capistrano. Camino Capistrano is the street on the right. The white buildings represent existing structures. URBAN VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT

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